Chapter 444: So That's How It Was
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Suddenly.
-Kwang!
An explosion occurred inside Cheol Ryu-heun’s head.
It was a formless force of impact applied to his spiritual body.
But there was no pain.
Only a blood-colored flash flickered in his vision that had turned black.
That blood-like radiance soon vanished.
His vision became dark again.
In that midst, the feeling of falling toward the ground grew stronger.
Now he knew for certain.
It was clear that his consciousness was returning to his body.
Following that.
-Kwang!
An explosion occurred again.
Just like before, a blood-colored radiance briefly appeared in his vision.
And again.
-Kwang!
A third explosion occurred.
From then on, the gap in which the formless force of impact was generated narrowed further.
-Kwang…… Kwang…… Kwang…… Kwang…… Kwang……!
A force ceaselessly shaking his spiritual body.
That was not an ordinary energy.
It was some kind of mysterious power difficult to explain.
Soon the formless force of impact accelerated.
-Kwang, kwang, kwang, kwang, kwang, kwang… !
Along with it, that feeling of falling to the ground also quickened.
Still, there was no pain whatsoever.
However.
It was becoming dimmer and dimmer.
His consciousness itself.
Cheol Ryu-heun suddenly felt an ominousness.
A failure of the arrangement?
But that thought was soon erased.
No.
That couldn’t be.
Indeed.
Before, hadn’t Blood God said he was a divine being overseeing the galaxy within the Great Universe?
With the arrangement of such a great existence, failure was out of the question……
At that moment, Cheol Ryu-heun recalled the conversation from just before.
-Do I come to realize a new power here?
-NO.
-Then?
-After first receiving the power…… That achievement depends on your will.
-Receive…… Power?
-Divine energy.
Yes, Blood God had said divine energy.
Then this symptom was probably related to that power.
And.
-You…… Obtained the qualification by operating divine energy in a new way. The qualification to communicate with us, I mean. Hu, honestly, I was surprised. I didn’t expect we’d meet again like this in just one day. Anyway, the time has come to reward that accomplishment with divine energy.
He had said so.
Reward.
In his fading consciousness, he recalled what Blood God had said at the end.
-You will surely be able to awaken even the portion of divine energy permitted by the creator god of the Great Universe.
Such Cheol Ryu-heun barely held onto his consciousness.
‘That’s right…… is it this! so that’s why…… he said there’s no time……’
-Come, there’s no time. Receive it.
At last, he realized its true meaning.
What ‘there’s no time’ meant was until his spiritual body returned to his physical body.
Indeed.
While the entrance to the Great Universe remained open, he must hurry to achieve the newly-imbued divine energy……
That is, Blood God’s role was the reward, and that was the extent of it.
The rest was Cheol Ryu-heun’s own share.
That was probably the scope permitted by the Creator God of the Great Universe.
‘Now…… I must…… find out on my own…… before that entrance…… closes……’
The sensation of the Pulverizing the Void Realm progressing through the continuous formless force of impact was also growing stronger.
Yet.
The Pulverizing the Void Realm did not progress further.
It simply continued circling at the starting point of the proper process.
Right then, Cheol Ryu-heun smiled.
‘As expected.’
He had briefly forgotten.
That there is nothing gained for free.
Indeed, this power newly imbued in him would also be so.
‘I’ll solve the problem…… my way!’
He sank into meditation while in the state of a spiritual body.
Quickly and deeply.
Thereupon.
-Kwaaa…… Aaaang……!
The formless force of impact from before noticeably slowed down.
It was a sign that it was calming down.
He immediately visualized each meridian one by one.
As if generating them in his spiritual body.
He was drawing a picture.
Virtually.
The moment the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Primary Meridians were completed like a single picture, a change immediately appeared.
-Urureureung… !
The power that had been generating the force of impact transformed into a small inner elixir inside his head with a sound like thunder.
Though he could neither see nor touch it, he clearly felt it.
Abruptly.
KUHAAANG!
The power of the exploded inner elixir dispersed rapidly.
From head to toe.
The virtual meridian generation attempted through his spiritual body began its mysterious operation.
His whole body was twisted and torn.
It was a virtual body-shedding transformation occurring in the mental domain.
As if proving that nothing is obtained for free, truly brutal pain tormented him wildly.
‘Kkeu…… aa…… aak!’
-Uduk, ududuk, uduk……!
The sound of bones breaking, heard like auditory hallucinations.
Pain assaulted him as if body-shedding transformation was actually happening.
But Cheol Ryu-heun maintained superhuman endurance.
Before long, his mental state settled peacefully.
Before he knew it, the body-shedding transformation process had ended.
Right then.
SEUSEUSEUSEU…… SEUSEUSEUSEU……
The feeling of his entire body being pulverized indiscriminately like powder arrived.
A feeling like swimming in an endless, bottomless space.
It was finally progressing in earnest.
The process of the third Pulverizing the Void Realm, that is.
Cheol Ryu-heun, having become certain, was engulfed in thrilling awe.
‘It’s…… done!’
Ecstasy accompanying pain.
His entire body scattered like powder and then gathered again, repeated.
It was so fast.
Also.
Each time that happened, the power presumed to be Blood God’s divine energy also grew.
-Kukukuku, kukukuku……!
The inside of his spiritual body vibrated.
Before he knew it, the pain vanished and a strange pleasure spread.
An exhilaration incomparable to the thrill he had felt before……
Was it because of that?
Suddenly, his whole body felt languid.
To be precise, his consciousness was becoming hazy.
In that midst, Cheol Ryu-heun inwardly muttered.
‘It has become…… mine. the portion of Divine energy the creator God permitted……’
The smile forming at the corner of his lips spoke for his heart.
Then distant past events visited him as a dream.
Memories from his time as Bai Chu, Grand Marshal who had unified the continent and been discarded like a worn-out tool by Huan Hou, friend and emperor……
* * *
The middle of a yellow desert region.
Two blood-covered people walked and walked across the endless sandscape that stretched like a sea.
At a glance, they looked like they had been wandering for many long days.
How many more days did they keep going like that?
Finally, in the far distance, a rocky mountain with grass growing sparsely and one water hole appeared.
“We’re almost there! hold on!”
A young man pointing to that place and shouting out.
He was the greatest Military God of the era, Grand Marshal Bai Chu.
The bearded man walking beside him bent deeply at the waist and vomited blood.
“We…… ek!”
It was a very deep crimson color.
Proof that his injuries were serious.
“A, are you alright!”
Bai Chu was startled and supported the bearded man’s body.
“Huff…… Huff…… General…… I’m…… done for.”
Lian Wei, Bai Chu’s confidant and second-ranking in the military hierarchy.
His expression showed he had realized he could no longer avoid death.
Bai Chu bit his lips firmly and then shook his head and spoke.
“Don’t say such things. you…… will return alive with me. definitely……”
Thereupon Lian Wei wore a bitter smile.
“Hut…… we have been…… abandoned. to think this expedition…… was actually a trap……”
Indeed, that’s how it was.
He had come on an expedition by imperial command, but as it turned out, it was the trap of being discarded like a worn-out tool.
That is, it was a secret purge operation of extermination planned covertly between Emperor Huan Hou and the foreign king.
At first, he hadn’t wanted to believe it.
He denied it.
Why?
Because Huan Hou was a friend without peer.
But after the great battle ended, when he himself and Lian Wei became the last survivors, he realized everything.
It was a plan to exterminate both ally and enemy alike……
The reason was simple.
Because the reinforcements that were supposed to come never appeared.
Was that all?
The main force of another foreign tribe struck the rear of both battling sides.
Without prior arrangement, that would have been absolutely impossible.
Moreover, the foreign king had testified to the inside story at the final moment.
Just before dying, pierced by his sword……
-Kkeuk…… How foolish. You still…… Don’t understand? The reinforcements you’re waiting for…… Won’t come. This was…… Huan hou’s…… His plan. Of course, I…… Was ultimately deceived too…… Kulleok, kulleok……!
Bai Chu, who had been recalling those words, stiffened his gaze.
The body held in his hands had gone limp.
TUK.
It was death.
Bai Chu wailed for a long time.
Various emotions welled up.
Then he buried Lian Wei’s corpse near the rocky mountain.
He set out again.
Until green forests and streams, and a village where he could rest his injured and exhausted body, appeared.
Around ten days later, he finally arrived at a village.
There, a seventy-year-old villager gave him a room without compensation.
Thus, he stayed there for many days and looked after his body.
Thanks to the villager’s kindness and care, his recovery was quick.
And finally, the time came to leave that place.
The villager, having packed him food, spoke with a wistful smile.
“Heo-heot, now that I’m about to send you off, I feel sad. if I’d known it would be like this, I would have at least fed you meat last night……”
Bai Chu answered with a deeply moved expression.
“No, Elder. What are you saying? I…… will definitely repay this kindness.”
“If you want to repay the kindness, just promise me one thing.”
“Ah, What is it?”
“Live well.”
“……”
“Please live well in good health. that’s the way to repay the kindness.”
“Ah……”
“I also sensed that you have some painful backstory you can’t speak of. so I didn’t ask anything. But…… even without hearing, there’s one thing this old man figured out for certain. that you…… are a good person with a Righteous heart.”
At the villager’s warm words, Bai Chu’s heart surged.
“Elder……”
“Heo-heot. come now, come now…… would a grown man get teary-eyed like that? now, go on and leave. go and marry a wife, see your children, and live peacefully like others. if fate connects us, we’ll see each other.”
“Elder…… I will come visit you later.”
“Yes, Yes. I’ll be waiting. I don’t know how much longer this old body can live…… ah-heo-heot.”
“Ha-hat. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that last part. I wish you good health.”
“Ah, right. and take this with you. it’s something I don’t need……”
What the villager offered with those words was a faded booklet.
On the yellow cover, there wasn’t even a title.
“This is……?”
“It’s just a booklet I picked up by chance. I’m illiterate so I can’t Read, which makes it useless to me. heo-heot. so I’m giving it to you.”
“UNDERSTOOD. I’LL READ IT ON my WAY.”
Thus Bai Chu bid farewell and left the village.
That night.
Bai Chu, having reached a city, stayed at a small inn and read the booklet.
But the contents were truly astonishing.
Because it was a mysterious essence for crafting weapons using a human’s spiritual soul energy.
‘Good heavens…… this is truly possible……?’
* * *
Cheol Ryu-heun, having awakened from his short dream, snapped his eyes open.
Before he knew it, he had gotten closer to his own body.
In that midst, the form of an old man was visible.
Gan Jiang.
Suddenly, Cheol Ryu-heun intuited.
‘So that’s how it was!’
A feeling difficult to put into words.
Right then, Gan Jiang’s Sound Transmission reached him.
-You seem to have intuited it. Yes, the booklet you obtained was…… Written by this old man in the past.